The Detroit Red Wings came home from a successful three-game (2-0-1) road trip and took an immediate pratfall. Looking second-best for most of the game, the Wings fell 3-1 to the visiting Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.

The first period was scoreless. Sami Helenius finally broke the ice when he beat Detroit goalie John Gibson from the high slot for his second goal of the season. Jeff Malott won a corner battle with Detroit defenseman Travis Hamonic and fed the puck to the wide-open Helenius.

BIG GOAL BIG SAMMY pic.twitter.com/pqN3GfBcYD

— LA Kings (@LAKings) January 28, 2026

Andrei Kuzmenko increased the LA advantage with a third-period power-play goal, converting Adrian Kempe’s feed.

With the goalie pulled, Alex DeBrincat scored his team-leading 28th goal of the season for the Wings. Patrick Kane drew an assist to pull even with Mike Modano (1,374) for the all-time points lead among US-born NHLers.

Corey Perry completed the scoring in an empty Detroit net.

Now tied. 🇺🇸👀 pic.twitter.com/WocaZI4zNW

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 28, 2026

Kings netminder Anton Forsberg made 26 saves for the win.

Gibson stopped 19 shots as his personal eight-game win streak came to a halt.

Red Wings Takeaways

The boo birds were out at Little Caesars Arena late in the second period as the Red Wings bungled a power-play opportunity during which LA created the two best scoring chances . . . Detroit defenseman Ben Chiarot appeared to be laboring through an ailment. He would stand and stretch while on the bench and took long skates around the ice during every ice cleaning stoppage . . . Hamonic sat for the last 7:20 of the second period and Axel Sandin-Pellikka for the final 6:34 (albeit a three-second shift on the power play) as Red Wings coach Todd McLellan finished the frame going with four defensemen . . . Linesman Mark Shewchyk left the game in the third period after being clipped in the face with Kempe’s stick on a faceoff.

Key Moment

Detroit came into the game with the NHL’s sixth-best power play (20.7%). However, the King successfully killed off all four Detroit man-advantage opportunities.

Key Stat

Gibson has played LA more than any other NHL team. Tuesday was his 30th appearance against the Kings. However, he’s just a .500 goalie (14-14-1) when facing Los Angeles.

Up Next For Red Wings

The Red Wings remain home, playing host to Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Thursday at Little Caesars Arena. Take note that this game iS A 7:30 p.m. ET start.